#lattefort

Walnut Discovering Roguefort’s identity (I got the idea while listening to the song Inside Joke by Zutomayo, and… the song tittle’s kinda fits too…)

Inside Joke

-Is an accident, maybe a year or so after the group came together (and more specifically after Roguefort and Almond start dating). Almond and Roguefort are working together again, some shadowy criminal group plotting and the detective just knows it, but it’s having trouble getting any evidence, following their steps. So, thinking this might be a rather dangerous investigation and not wanting to involve any coworkers until he can be sure to arrest the culprits, he asks once more for Phantom Bleu to help him.

Neither of them know what Walnut has noticed. She has noticed that her dad is hiding something, and she had the hunch that Phantom Bleu was involved. So, she has followed Almond (for the good sake of her father, out of worry) and has seen both adults talking about this criminal organization, decided against jumping right on for looking at each of their movements, curious about what is her father doing (working with a criminal out of all things), and why Phantom Bleu seemed to agree to work with the detective (are they trying to take advantage of this situation?).

She sees them both smiling and joking and, just as she jumps out of her hiding place, all ready to confront Phantom Bleu (and her father it seems) and scaring the shit out of both adults, the criminals they were trying to get information from come out of their hiding place.

While running away, Roguefort taking Walnut with them after exchanging a look with Almond (the adult’s priority to keep the little nut safe), that the Phantom Bleu cover comes off. After running away to a place where they can leave Walnut to reunite with her father, a few accidents happen, that make the hat (that helps them keep a shadow over their face to keep their identity) and monocle fall off.

The rivals look at each other for several seconds, before Walnut points at Roguefort with a surprised, angry gasp, and Roguefort panics, throwing a smoke bomb to the floor to take their things and leave. Leaving Walnut standing in the middle of the smoke trying to process things and thinking how to tell this to her father, because she doesn’t know yet that Almond knows about Roguefort’s secret. While Roguefort is running on the roofs while writing to the “Coffee Bean Appreciation Group” a panicked, very quick and without any spaces message “SHEKNOWS”.

And then they go face first against a pole on a roof because they weren’t looking where they were running to.

-Walnut goes to Rogue’s workshop to interrogate them, and try to get enough evidence that they are, in fact, Phantom Bleu so she can arrest them once and for all. Latte happened to be around too, because Roguefort was trying to think of a way to tell the girls about the full identity thing but with what they had found out about the criminals with Almond they doubt they’ll have the time to and they needed to calm down.

Latte ends up telling Walnut she already knew, which does nothing to help either the little detective (who angrily gasps and points once more) or the thief (who give their partner a new panicked look that Latte holds back a laugh to). Walnut asks why she didn’t say anything to what the mage answers “well, it seemed fun to hold back and also, I didn’t see the need to” (which is the truth, that’s how it felt in the beginning, that and also knowing Roguefort needed to be the one who tells the others, including the girls).

Walnut feels betrayed by two of the people she trusted the most, because, well, both are kinda like her parents by now.

Roguefort, deciding to hold back the full truth of their relationship with the little detective’s father for a bit longer, asks her to wait until the current case Almond was facing is done with. Promising to explain everything once that’s over. (Because they think it’s something that Almond needs to explain as well, with the reaction she had towards Latte)

Walnut agrees to the deal, angry though.

-Roguefort tells Almond about this deal, to what Almond agrees that, yeah, they need to tell the little nut the truth (and Creampuff too, he thinks, he just knows Walnut will tell Creampuff about it, the two girls are close and Walnut probably will tell Puff as a warning).

-Walnut gets into the case as well, by her own means, because she wants to make sure her father its ok. (She knows he can take care of himself but its normal to worry).

Almond scolds her for getting into the case unauthorized, and also because he had told her this one was dangerous.

-I honestly don’t have anything else on this one. I guess Walnut gets the truth from both Almond and Roguefort, starts feeling absolutely betrayed by her father, some situation where the three of them get in some big trouble happens and its there that Walnut notices that Phantom Bleu, or rather, Roguefort, is truly good to them. They don’t earn their trust right away, but Walnut makes them promise that the day she captures them is the day they have to stop playing the role of Phantom Bleu. Roguefort accepts this, happy.

The Time Watch Heirloom Heist (also named after a song of Zutomayo)

Until the end

“It would have been fine.

Roguefort would have ignored the timekeeper. Keep going. They had something to care for. Friends to care for, a family to care for.

But the thought laid awake, at the back of his mind.

“I know a time where you find your long lost heirloom!”

They ignored it then.

But now, as they run out of the atelier, ignoring the worry of the others, of Latte, Espresso, Madeleine and Creampuff, when they stopped talking after seeing a newspaper, ignoring the calls from both Almond and Walnut (they were worried, the sudden stop the sudden run), the thought came back. The only hint of what could have gone through their mind laying on the table, in big black letters.

“Blue Cheese family’s heirloom auctioned away”

They need to start planning.”

-Notes before anything:

=Future! Walnut and Creampuff are here (yes, this happens years after they all meet, and I’ll clarify this now, I see them as platonic or sister-like).

=Almond would be using his Commissioner of Parfaedia costume.

=Madeleine and Espresso are pretty much engaged (though haven’t married).

=Timekeeper participates in this one.

=Appearance of original characters.

=I choose to use the stupid invocation cards but only one (1), for a good reason.

=Follows most of the ideas given in Walnut and Roguefort’s “Lost Time” costumes.

=Roguefort-centric (of course).

-Lines above from one of my drawings (the first ones where I introduced the headcanon, I might add the tag “Until the end'' for easier search). After this, Roguefort disappears for some days, only ever contacting Almond, Walnut or (less than expected) Latte.

Each one of the others get a letter, Phantom Bleu’s wax seal on top (they even send one to Sparkling’s bar). And, although it seems like it’s another act, a rather selfish one, there’s this sad undertone to the words they use to the letters, hidden between the threats of stealing all time pieces in the city, not everyone notices it. I’m keeping Almond and Walnut with the end line: “I am pursuing lost time.”

=Also just a few days before the gang was going to celebrate Maddie and Essy’s engagement.

-Roguefort does not go to their house, or the workshop, wherever they are staying at, no one knows.

-There are so. Many. Mixed emotions in the group. Espresso and Walnut want to slap Roguefort in the face if they have the chance.

-Both Almond and Walnut team together (after maybe some time, and both the detective and commissioner wish it would have been under a different circumstance) to find and bring them back to capture Phantom Bleu. Creampuff is stepping down from this one, saying she felt some weird magic signature around the city and wants to look out for it (make sure it’s kept under control). Roguefort has succeeded in stealing various time pieces already, without begin seen at all.

They finally get to see them, after so many deductions and trying to figure out where the next robbery would be. It’s on a rooftop, the sunset all oranges and yellows and, they are not wearing their normal costume, but the Pursuit of Lost Time. And the detectives notice the surprised, sad look on their face before it quickly changes to their usual grin, but more forced and looking less natural than ever.

There is some exchange of words, where Roguefort hints the reasons why they are doing what they are doing, like a riddle (whatever the reason for this is, they could be scared or maybe embarrassed? to know how the others react after hearing their motives, the reason Phantom Bleu appeared in the first place). There’s a chase, where Roguefort manages to escape even after Almond had used the handcuffs, dropping the stolen time piece and a smoke bomb. Almond and Walnut are about to get to it before Timekeeper suddenly appears, laughing a little at the show they got (they were bored, so went to see what Roguefort was doing though they already had an idea of it).

This is where the doodles take place.

-Almond and Walnut go back home (after some reports were done and the stolen piece was given back), finding Latte, Madeleine, Espresso and Creampuff there, all of them knowing about the encounter they had with the thief. They all ask about them, father and daughter telling them what happened, the words exchanged (Walnut expressing she still wants to slap the thief and Espresso silently agreeing with her, Madeleine is torn up between wanting to do the same or not, so is Latte).

None of them know about the power the heirloom cointains.

-Roguefort visits the bar. Sparkling trying to get them to at last talk with the group, to give a better explanation than just leaving cards, Vampire showing concern through only worried looks, not really sure if he could say something to the thief to make them change their mind. The thief remains quiet.

-There are multiple chases, of course. Roguefort is able to track down where the person who has the heirloom is, just at the same time both Almond and Walnut know where to search for them next, following their steps close and coming out to try and catch them, interrupted by a mysterious figure. The time watch is going to be used by some dark-magic user, a powerful one too.

Creampuff comes into the scene too, just as the dark mage is about to send a spell towards the three of them, just in time to get a barrier on and take them out of there. (This is the strange magic she mentions before)

As soon as they get out of there Roguefort mentions the power the heirloom holds (never coming into much detail about it). It’s no longer just Phantom Bleu getting their long lost heirloom back, they now need to discover what on earthbread the dark mage is planning and stop them.

-Phantom Bleu disappears once more, silent and smiling sadly at their family favorite detectives after Almond asks them if they want to go and rest at home. (although he still feels the annoyance at them and it’s very clear in his eyes Roguefort spend way too much time staring at them to know what they looked like when annoyed, they know he would mean no bad, and Roguefort can see the conflict in Walnut too, even when she is clearly angry at them she still worries, they wonder if they should go check up on Latte, and they do).

-Roguefort arrives at Latte’s place, she looks at them rather surprised. Still leaning a bit against the window frame and with a rather sheepish smile, not able to meet her eyes, not fully. They hear her steps and feel pain in their left check.

“…I deserved that.”

“Yes you did.”

=They are able to talk about it, the watch. Roguefort asks Latte to not tell the others, to which she agrees as long as they promise to tell them all soon enough. They will, they know their fear might be a bit stupid, now that they think about it, the others are like family to them.

Rogue prepares to leave, Latte asking where they are staying. Roguefort just answers with a “Where old memories remain” before jumping out a window into the night once more.

-Timekeeper meets Roguefort again, one night without the moon as the stars are decorating the sky, to give him an invocation card, one able to generate a shield around its user. How did they even get their hands on it? Who knows. Besides that, they warn him about the outcomes of traveling back in time, were they to do that, although they say it in a more playful tone.

=I think a lot about the fact that one of Roguefort’s lobby lines is something like “My family’s timepieces require no authentication”, timepieces as in plural. Makes me think that the Blue Cheese family had some sort of connection to Timekeeper, or deal, after all, how does one come to own an artifact capable of transporting its user back in time? Do the other time pieces have some power in them? Almond’s line (“This timepiece is evidence. Quick! Find the winding key!”) Makes me think that, in some form or way, Phantom Bleu is using the timepieces they steal to hide their hints (Or is he talking about another special artifact? Besides a Blue Cheese Family one).

This in mind, Timekeeper is wondering what path Phantom Bleu will choose, as they have seen it, the options, the possibilities, the endings.

Maybe they will finally see something interesting happen? (Nothing, in the end everything remains one way or another, to their disappointment)

-There is starting to be more robbery, but not by Phantom Bleu. There are clear traces of the mysterious dark mage all around. Traces of black magic and another kind of power. Walnut and Creampuff are the ones investigating these cases, alongside the help of Almond. Espresso, Madeleine and Latte are also helping, after hearing out about the cases and asked by Creampuff (who, against her partner-kinda-sister and kinda-dad protests of not bothering the others, went for it anyways because she just feels something’s wrong with all of this).

=Meanwhile, Roguefort is spending some time in the remains of an old manor, an old mansion made ruins and which’s terrain was never sold, surrounded by forest and bushes of blue roses and dust. They are trying to find something, something that can tell them more of the watch’s power and what could a dark mage use it for. If it was possible to use the watch’s power with black magic.

Timekeeper is close by, bothering them, having fun looking how frustrated they seem to be (a look uncommon on the thief), and knowing what’s happening back at the city.

=Latte talks to Almond about her talk with Roguefort, not mentioning what she knows about the watch, but saying that she is sure the next time they see them they would explain. When Almond asks if she knows where Rogue is and Latte answers with what Rogue said, he looks at her a bit surprised, before saying “I think I know where they’ve been staying at.”

=Espresso, Madeleine, Walnut and Creampuff are currently following the steps of the mage. Until they reach close to the Magic Academy, where they find the dark mage coming out of their hiding spot, gathering attention around them and wary looks. The detective and her partner step forward, ready to face the mage, their kinda-uncles right behind ready in case the mage starts attacking.

The dark mage smiles, introducing herself (Marigold). She takes out the watch from her robes, its winding key nowhere to be seen. Activates the watch with her magic, a dark aura surrounding her and then, out of a magic circle that opens a time-rift, comes out one of those cake monsters the dragon in the guild battles summons (idk how it’s called).

The group fights the monster. Proving to be quite hard to bring down and destroying part of the street they were fighting in. The mage escapes, taking the opportunity to do so as the others are busy with the monster and noting her success opening the rift, even if only for one thing to come out.

They manage to defeat the monster.

-Almond and Latte go to the remains of the old Blue Cheese manor, getting reports via messages from Walnut about the attack when they arrive. They go through an old, rusted gate, and walk forward in between broken halls and blue roses. They both soon hear some curses in what they can definitely recognize as Rogue’s voice, alongside the laugh and constant pestering from Timekeeper (or at last Almond can tell that Latte hasn’t met the time keeper yet).

Walking into what seems the remains of an old library, the detective and mage find a rather hilarious scene, books and papers scattered everywhere, Roguefort looking at Timekeeper with the most annoyed glare ever pointing at them and asking them to “shut the fuck up” while the pointed in question looks anything but sorry, with their hands up as in surrender (they are not). Roguefort is quick to notice the other two there and just stares at them for a few seconds.

They are supposed to have a short talk before the rest of the group arrives. Walnut having known (or having a hunch) for some time of where her pa could be and just confirming it after hearing a bit of the last place her father was seen.

Timekeeper had already disappeared by the time Espresso and Walnut walk forward and start interrogating Roguefort (who just backs up a little and holds their hands up).

They all finally *talk*. Roguefort gives details about the watch, what they’ve been able to find and remember, and Creampuff gives details of what she thinks is the kind of magic Marigold is using. For whatever she might be trying to bring, all the trouble earlier doesn’t point to anything good.

Roguefort doesn’t say anything about the real reasons why they are trying to pursue the watch. The others don’t ask.

=Roguefort doesn’t go back with the others, saying they will stay at the old manor for a few more hours (they are still searching for anything else that could help).

Almond and Latte stay behind, perhaps to try and convince Roguefort to go back, even if just for a night. Rogue gives them one of their sad smiles.

The moon is in the sky, Roguefort notices. Not full but still shining gently.

They feel unable to reach out.

-The detectives go around the city during the following week, trying to catch the dark mage in different places, trying to gather information of what they were on about (Creampuff has a few theories, and decides to consult with her teacher back at the City of Wizards via-owl message).

Madeleine, Latte and Espresso are too on alert, in case they spot anything that could help them out with this.

Roguefort remains apart from the group for some more time, coming every once and then to the detectives (and the others if they are around) to give any new information they get about the watch.

=They do get back to begin close to the other eventually. I have not thought of the idea that well but it sure as hell involves a cuddly scene with Al and Latte.

-Fill up. Chase, fight, angst. You know. The good shit. (I don’t want to make this so long JSKFLHUAWHFUIWAHEUWA)

-Ok so. The idea with Marigold and her plan with the watch is to open a time rift with her magic and the power of the time watch big enough to let the red velvet dragon come in. She just wants to see the world burning. I gotta say that. So. I thought this was happening in some really tall tower. The time rift won’t be closed by Marigold, as she has made it so it can’t be closed unless the watch is destroyed.

There are two possible endings:

1- Roguefort really thinks of what they are really reaching out for (the question Timekeeper made) and, going back to the idea that initially they didn’t want to confess their feelings to either Almond or Latte all those years back because of the danger it was with their job, they choose to destroy the watch. The thing is, the use of magic has made it unstable, destroying the watch can just take a single well given hit right at it but it could result in an explosion (cliché, I know, but hey, it’s for the sake of the plot).

Remember the card thingie, it’s for that. Roguefort pretty much fakes Phantom Bleu’s death, scaring to death the others in the process. Of course they apologize later on, after going to the Attelier in secret to wait for the others. Just to keep living their life as simply Roguefort, a watchmaker, unrelated completely to the Blue Cheese family and related completely to a family of coffee addicts.

2- Roguefort, encouraged by their partners, chooses to go back in time, as destroying the time watch means they’ll never get to see what they wish to see ever. In the end, they end up trapped in the time rift subspace or… how you call it???? With Timekeeper saying that they already knew what was going to happen, but that the story its not over yet and they wish to keep seeing the thief’s story, to see if something else might happen. Roguefort of course is pained and, well, will either start to try and go back (to either their present or their past, who knows).

"Nothing of value?" Roguefort teased, their heart skipping a beat in their chest. "My, that's such a shame for you to say that. Simply looking at you, I can firmly declare that to be an outright lie."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

The stars were out tonight, the moon full and bright. It shown down upon her, striking against her hair, giving it an unearthly, angelic glow that formed a halo of light all around her. Angel, they thought.

"A beautiful young lady--such as yourself--has much more to offer than merely trinkets and money. And certainly, you have something that I desire very, very much in this moment."

"Why come to my window, then, dear?" she asked: "Surely, you could have snuck inside some other way?"

"I couldn't." They shifted slightly, flexing the arm supporting their weight, easing some of the tension it held. "For I see you have it in your possession right now, as we speak. I've already stolen some of it: I intend to take much more, if you will allow me."

"And what might that be?"

"I've stolen some of your time, dearest one to my heart." Roguefort said this softly, leaning closer to the window, closer to her, leaning down. "If you would let me, I plan on stealing even more."

"You silly cookie!" Latte giggled, a pleasant sound that shivered in the air and left trills of delight singing through Roguefort's body. They felt the smile on their face lighten, easier now, the laugh inspired from her rumbling out of their chest in answer. "You've already stolen my heart, and now you're demanding my time!"

"Not for nothing, of course," they pointed out, lifting up the bag of food they've been holding onto. "I always leave my calling card, after all."

"Come inside, Roguefort, won't you?" Latte asked, stepping away from the window to make room for them, inviting them inside, so willing and trusting. "I'd hate to see you fall. Not when you've my heart still with you."

And inside they went, first passing over the bag of food to her, then easing themself inside first with their feet. It was slow and deliberate--there was no need to rush, no fear for the consequences of being caught. After all, his presence was already very much known, and if the look on her face when they stepped toward her and closed the distance was any indication--the way she lifted her head expectantly, closing her eyes as they leaned in--they would be welcome for many more visits to come.

They kissed her, soft and sweet. They always enjoyed doing this, stealing these kisses, even though they knew it wasn't really stolen so much as it was given. Just like the time that they 'stole', and the heart that they 'took'--all of it was given to them freely, under the one, sole condition that they take care of her heart as if it were their own.

When they parted, Latte lifted up her hands, taking their hat from their head and setting it on her own with a playful giggle. "You look beautiful tonight," they said, brushing a stray strand of hair hanging over her forehead.

"And you look enchantingly mysterious," she answered. "And very thoughtful, bringing me food. You're very sweet. I hope that you brought enough for the both of us, because I've been hoping to dine with you for some time."

They weren't intending on it: The food truly was mostly for her, so that she'd have some leftovers to bring with her to work for the next day or so. Exam season was fast approaching, and they heard that during this time of year, teachers were under much more stress than usual.

"You'd like me to dine with you?" they asked, putting a thoughtful hand to their chin. Latte hummed, nodding her head, eyelashes fluttering expectantly. "Very well, then. What kind of gentlecookie would I be to refuse the offer of a beautiful lady like yourself?"